So I saw on the Two Best Friends website that there was a Nintendo Direct event announcing new Nintendo products that would be coming out in the next few months (the New 3DS XL finally coming to North America, etc.), and I really didn’t think much about it.

Then I went to the store on my own New 3DS LL here in Japan only to find a Nintendo Direct even that you could watch right there on your DS. And it was also about 45 minutes. But when you pull it up it is all about things that will be coming out in Japan in the next few months.

Something about this strikes me as odd. They had two almost completely different announcements of almost the exact same length released on the exact same day. Are they supposed to be kept secret from each other? Indeed, almost all the English-language gaming press seems to be focusing on the English-language North American event. I can’t help but feel that if they were held on different days the Japanese event would be getting more English-language coverage.

I’m not sure what kind of conclusion to draw from this except a “don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing” situation. Sort of like how Nintendo of America is (and is going to have to keep) pretending that the New 3DS doesn’t exist, and that only the New 3DS XL has ever been created. I don’t know, I guess the feeling I’m left with is the same one that I increasingly came to have in States during high school and college: all the real stuff is happening in Japan, only some of which will eventually filter through to the West. It just reminds me of that second-class status that, depending on what you’re into, can get really frustrating.

Incidentally, I’m pretty surprised that Yakuza 5 was finally announced for the West not long ago. PSO 2 seems to be just having a laugh at this point though.